High pressure sealing head



Sept 22, M1942 u F. K. FISCHER 2,296,710

HIGH PRESSURE SEALING HEAD Filed April 25, 1938 I l l 6 2.7 2.4 l :an l z `r 1111 15 F-l C1. 5. INVENTOR lr F'nsnsmcx K. Fscum BY m FI 6;.4- y 'l ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 22, 1942 l y 2,296,110 man raassvas ssamm; um

Frederick K. Fischer, Prospect Park, Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric t Manufactum! Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application 'April 2s, 193s, semi No. 203,809 i (c1. zzo- 46) s claims.

This invention relates to closures for pressure vessels and more particularly to covers and closureY members for high-pressure heads of heatexchange apparatus.

An object of the invention is the provision of a closure for high-pressure heads wherein the internal pressure load istransmitted' to a shear ring.

. A"further object of the invention is the provision of a high-pressure head wherein the use of heavy flanges and large bolts ,is avoided vby use of shear ring in conjunction with novel sealing means. K

Another object `oi' the invention is the provision of a high-pressure head in which the only bolts are those required to produce the neces-v sary gasket pressure at the sealing joints. Y

Another object of the invention is the provision of closure means `for high-pressure heads which will take sealing pressure loads in either direction equally well.

Another object is the provision oi' a relatively flexible sealingmember to take .care of any variations in dimensions ofv parts, and any Blight movement oi.'y the cover with respect to the body.-

These and other objects are effected by the invention as will be apparent from the following description and claimstaken in connection with the'accompanying drawing. forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of a tubular heat exchanger constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line II--II of Fig. l, looking in the direction' of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the structure of Fig. 1; and,

Figs. 4 and 5 are views similar to Fig. 3, illus-v trating modifications of the invention.

In the drawing, there is shown a high-Dressurehead at 8, including a body member I and a cover I0.

I2 of the shell i3. by suitable means, such as bolts I4. Tubes I5 have terminal portions secured in the tube plate wall I6 of the body member and they extend longitudinally through the shell to the outlet end (not shown) of the heat exchanger. As is usual, the shell i3 has an inlet I1; and, where the heat exchanger is of the single-pass type, as herein illustrated, the body member is provided with an inlet i8 in its cylindrical wall i9 for the admission of fluid under high pressure.

Preferably, the open outerend of the cyiinfl drical wall i! is counterbored at 2i to receive Athe cover il. The counterbore provides an outwardly-facing radial/shoulder or face 23 against which the inner face of the cover abuts, and has an annular recess or groove 2l providing lan inwardly-facing thrust shoulder 26. A. shear ring 21 fits in' the recess 24 and abufsthe thrust shoulder 26' with its inner face contacting the outer face of the cover i0,

To facilitate assembly of the shear ring 2l in the groove 24, the former is divided into a plurality of arcuate sections, for example, 28. 29, 30, 3l, I2, and I3. To provide for contiguity of adjacent end faces of the sections and for insertion and removal of thelatter, 'all of such faces extend radially except the faces at' either .end Aof the section 3l, which are parallel, thereby providing for insertion of the latter section last land removal thereof first.

The shear ringsections are held in position -by a retaining ring 36" connected by bolts Il vto The retaining ring is provided the cover l0. on its inner face with an annular, axially-proiecting rib i! extending into the annular'groove II formed in the cover. a gasket il' being located in thebottom ofthe groove and acted upon lcoxnpressivvely by the rib.v The necessary 'sealing pressure is obtained by tightening of the bolts 31, the latter serving the double purpose lof holding 'the' retaining ring in place and of .compressing the sealing gasket li.

The retaining ring is further provided with an outwardly-extending ra'dial flange or lip 42 The body member has a flange Ilat one end for attachment to the flange- The cover I0 is detachably 5I providing suitably small clearance' with respect to the interior surface of Fthecyiinder wall Il. Such annular clearance isv oovered'by a straddle type seal comprising a pair of annular gasket members 4I and u abutting the outer end faces --of the retaining ring and d the cylindrical wall. v4respectively. and an annular sealing plate 'Il overlying the twov gasketc bridging the space tnerebetween.- Preferabb, the sealing plate is made of relatively thin-and flexible metal to accommodate unavoidable variations in dimensioni of parte. Outer rings 4l and Il are connected hy bolts Il to the covernd the cylindrical wall and serve to exert clamping action on the sealing-plate such that the latter is sealed with respect to the cover and the cylindrical wall by the gaskets I3 and u.

The central portion of the cover is materially thickened. as at 22, to provide for increased stil!- ness. and the outer edge portion has sumcient thickness to afford adequate resistance to shear. In Fig. 4. there is shown a modification of the l above-described construction which differs therefrom in the provision of an alternative arrangement of seal between the retaining ring and the cover.

To this end, the retaining ring 52 has an inner radial flange or lip 53 providing an outer face I4, and the cover is formed with inner and having an annular groove in one face thereof, to closely receive the annular rib on the retaining ring, an annular member sealing the Joint between the body member `and the retaining ring, a. sealing member in the bottom of the annular groove, and means for forcing the retaining ring toward the cover to compress the sealing means V between the bottom of the groove and the top of outer rabbets 55 and 55a, respectively, the inner i rabbet providing an outer face 56 aligned with the face Il, the cylindrical surfaces of the flange and of the rabbet fitting closely, with the relatively narrow annular clearance therebetween An outer ring sealed by the annular gasket 51. Il is connected by bolts 59 and il to the retaining ring and cover, respectively, and serves to exert sealing pressure on the gasket. Preferably, the

bolts 8| are of such a size as not only to exert sumcient pressure for sealing, but also to prevent displacement of the retaining ring.

'I'he vcover Il is formed with a second rabbet providing 'a thickened central outer portion ila for increased stiffness, the outer edge portion ofl the cover having. sumcient thickness to afford adequate resistance to shear.

In Fig. 5, there is shown a further modification diiIering from 'that of Fig. 4 in thatthe main body portion of the retaining ring 62 is of increased radial dimension to provide for-.extension therethrough of the bolts 63 serving to prevent displacement thereof and which are provided with sealing means I4 beneath their heads. 'I he kannular joint between the retaining ring 'and the l cover is sealed by a straddie-type structure such as already described.,

In each of [these constructions, :the head will take loads in either direction, that is, pressure inwardly oi the head will be taken by the .shear ring 21, and pressure outwardly of ,the

head wlll be taken by the thrust shoulder ,23. The various sealing means disclosed will' function equally well with pressures in either direction.; e, Y f

, While I have shown my invention in several forms, it will ybe obvious to those skilled v'in the y artthat itis not so limited but is susceptible of various'other changes and modifications without departingfrom the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

the rib therein.

2. Apparatus of the character described compr'ising a hollow pressure sustaining body member having an opening at one end and a thrust shoulder adjacent said opening, a cover in the opening disposed inwardly oi the thrust shoulder, a plurality of shear pieces between the cover and the thrust shoulder for transmitting pressure Afrom the former to the latter, a retaining ring for preventing displacement of the shear pieces, said retaining ring having an annular rib projecting from one face thereof, the cover having an annular groove in one `face thereof to 'closely yreceive the annular rib on the retaining ring, an annular member sealing the Joint between the body member and the retaining ring, a sealing member in the bottom of the annular groove, and means for forcing the retaining ring toward the cover to compress the sealing means between the bottom of the groove and the top ofthe rib therein, said means comprising a plurality of bolts' extending through the retaining ring and threadedly received in Athe cover, said bolts beingdisposed radially inwardly of theflast-inentioned .sealing member.

3. Apparatusmf the characterv described comprising a hollow pressure sustaining body member having an opening at one end, an axially outwardly facing thrust shoulder, and a radially in- :wardly facing annular recess between said thrust I the shear pieces, an annular lip projecting radi- 1. Apparatus of the character described comprislng a hollow pressure sustaining body mem- ,ber having an opening at one end and a thrust shoulder adjacent said opening, a cover` in the opening disposed inwardly of the thrust shoulder, a plurality of shear pieces between the coverand the thrust shoulder for transmitting-pressurey fromthe former to the latter, a retaining .ring for preventing displacement of the shear pieces, said retaining ring having an annular rib projecting from one face thereof, the cover ally outwardly from said main portion towards the wall o'f the body member to provide a relativelyv narrow joint between the body member and the retaining ring, and an annular rib projecting axially inwardly and closely received in the groove in the cover; means for sealing the joint between the body member and the retaining ring; av gasket at the bottom of annular groove in the cover; anda plurality of bolts extending,J radially through the retaining ring threadedly receive in the cover for retaining the former in position and for applying sealing pressure to the gasket through the annular rib.

FREDERICK VK. FISCHER. 

